Necro's steps were soundless as he descended, the darkness swallowing the pale glow of the world above. Each step felt like slipping deeper into the throat of something ancient, something that had not died simply because it did not know how to die.
Here, time thickened.
His spirit sense swept outward, mapping the tunnel's jagged passage. Residual qi clung to the stones in patches, like bloodstains long dried. Here, a half-faded defensive ward hummed softly, its sigils cracked. There, a severed wristband still pulsed faintly, trying to reconnect to a severed arm that would never return.
Necro ignored them, pressing forward.
The tunnel opened, at last, into a cavern vast enough to contain a small city. Dozens of platforms floated within the darkness, drifting along unseen currents, connected by bridges of light that flickered in and out of existence. Each platform was littered with bones, weapons, fragments of jade slips, and pools of lingering spiritual blood.
